


Treat You Better

by queen_sinnamon



Category: VIXX
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Broken, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 09:32:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8527969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_sinnamon/pseuds/queen_sinnamon
Summary: "It's just a little argument," Hongbin would say whenever Wonshik questioned why he put up with it. "I overreacted. I'm fine, we're fine."He wasn't. They weren't. They never would be, and each time he came back, sporting a new bruise before the old one had even faded, looking more fragile than the last time, something in Wonshik, already raw and bleeding, split anew, wider, deeper.





	

Hongbin arrives in the dead of night again, eyes puffy and red. Wonshik doesn't ask, not this time. This has happened enough times. Way too many times.

Hongbin ducks into his apartment, and Wonshik catches a glimpse of an angry red bruise on his shoulder, but then Hongbin hugs himself, shifting his shirt so it's hidden. He looked like he was trying to keep himself from falling apart.

And maybe he was.

Hongbin goes straight to the bathroom, turns the shower on, and Wonshik suspects it's to mask the sound of his misery.

The many times he made the mistake of crying in front of Wonshik, they had both ended up in tears until morning, with Hongbin's face against Wonshik's chest as he murmured, "I know I can treat you better than he can. You deserve better."

Hongbin had nodded at the time, and they had fallen asleep in each other's arms, but when Wonshik woke up, Hongbin was nowhere to be found.

This time, they wouldn't see.

Wonshik wouldn't see Hongbin break down on his knees, tears falling as he let out a silent scream, and Hongbin wouldn't see Wonshik's heart shatter as he watched, helpless.

Wonshik busies himself. He lays out a towel, the fluffiest he owned, and clothes for Hongbin, only the most comfortable in his wardrobe. He doesn't think about it, the actions nearly automatic from the sheer number of times this had happened.

He's making tea in the kitchen when he hears the water shut off, the door open. Matcha. That always soothed Hongbin. He doesn't bother for one himself--No sweet drink could ever wash the bitterness off his tongue, not when he knew full well it would come back. Give it days. If he's lucky, if Hongbin's lucky, a week or two.

Hongbin always comes back. "It's just a little argument," he would say whenever Wonshik questioned why he put up with it. "I overreacted. I'm fine, we're fine."

  
He wasn't. They weren't. They never would be, and each time he came back, sporting a new bruise before the old one had even faded, looking more fragile than the last time, something in Wonshik, already raw and bleeding, split anew, wider, deeper.

He finds Hongbin in the living room, curled up on the floor, the towel draped over his head and his shoulders. Wonshik couldn’t see his face, but he could see Hongbin hadn’t bothered to get dressed, alabaster skin marred by a trail of ink-like blots, yellow in some places, fresher and darker in others. The red splotch on his shoulder is starting to turn purple.

The sadness weighing down his heart starts to burn, coursing through his veins and melting the ice that had numbed his limbs, filling him with fury, white hot and boiling.

Hongbin didn’t deserve any of this.

Hongbin didn’t deserve the tears that stung his eyes and made them swell, when they should have been crinkled into crescents from the wideness of his smiles. Hongbin didn’t deserve the words, sharper than knives, that Wonshik knew to be running through his head, when he should have been hearing nothing less than the highest of praises. Hongbin didn’t deserve the bruises that mapped his skin, where it should have been drawn on with only the softest touches, the most loving kisses.

Hongbin deserves the fucking world, and Wonshik is ready to bend over backwards just to give it to him while he lets some ungrateful bastard crush his heart underfoot.

The mug slams onto the coffee table hard, splashing hot matcha, and Hongbin startles but refuses to look at him.

“So what is it this time?” Wonshik growls, dripping with venom he knows Hongbin didn’t deserve either, or perhaps he did. Wonshik had argued, negotiated, pleaded with Hongbin to stop it, leave that asshole, be with Wonshik instead, for as long as Hongbin had drawn it out, from the very first time Hongbin had turned up in the middle of the night, crying his eyes out and bleeding from a split lip.

 _It was an accident_ , he had said. _I was careless. I was too pushy. I was whiny._

There’s always something, one little thing or another that would accidentally send a blow that ripped the air out of his lungs and broke his soul, little by little. An accident that happened far too often to be unintentional anymore, and how could Hongbin not see that?

_Please, stop doing this to yourself, I beg you._

Wonshik should have been happy, should have celebrated when Hongbin spoke, voice so soft Wonshik almost didn’t hear him. “I broke up with him.”

He had imagined how it would go, should Hongbin break up with the nameless bastard, when he eventually does. Wonshik had been sure he would, eventually, and he had imagined himself clapping Hongbin on the shoulder, as if it were a job well done, and then he would say, “Fucking finally! Where do we party?” He had pictured himself laughing, picking Hongbin up and spinning him around, kissing him.

He had waited for this for months, and yet there is none of the joy he thought he would have. Instead Wonshik stands paralyzed as what fragile strength he had built for Hongbin to lean on, for himself, crumbles. He falls to his knees, hands clasped over his open mouth, his anguished scream stoppered at his throat by a quickly growing lump. He chokes on his own sobs as his vision blurs.

Hongbin--sweet, patient, determined Hongbin--had broken, pushed so far that he let go instead of working through it.

Wonshik should have been glad. Breaking away from that was the right thing to do, and yet, he isn’t happy, not in the least. There is only hurt, pressing on his chest, hard and insistent that he feels like it might cave in on itself.

He reaches for Hongbin, hands shaky as they cup his cheeks, carefully, so carefully, as if Hongbin were made of glass that would crack and shatter at the slightest of touches. Hongbin leans into his touch, heavy, exhausted, wrung so dry he had run out of tears to shed.

“I’m so sorry,” Wonshik whispers, the fight suddenly drained out of him and replaced with heartache.

Hongbin only shakes his head, a wry smile pulling at the corners of his lips. His dimples don’t even show. He reaches up to press Wonshik’s palms against his cheek, as if his hands could push his pieces back together, and Wonshik hopes they could. He hopes _he_ could. “Thank you,” he says, voice as delicate as he looks.

Wonshik sobs, pulling Hongbin to him, and the other follows docilely, letting himself be seated on Wonshik’s lap. Lean arms wrap around him, keeping him together as tears sprang anew, spilling hot on Wonshik’s shoulder, and Wonshik’s own follow, wetting Hongbin’s damp hair as he buries his face in it.

Bodies trembling as they whimpered, arms tight around one another, Hongbin hangs on for dear life, and Wonshik grounds him. He places promises on Hongbin’s skin with his lips. “I’m here, I’m here. I got you.”

Hongbin nods, and this time, Wonshik feels--No, he’s certain he would find Hongbin by his side in the morning.

It’s a long road to healing, and Wonshik has no doubt he would stumble and fall as much as Hongbin will, if not more, but of one thing he’s certain. He will treat Hongbin better.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Shawn Mendes' Treat You Better.
> 
> I've been at a block for some weeks, and this had been....unfortunately easy, but also difficult, to push out. I grew up watching one abusive relationship after another, and then had some personal experience myself. Quite a lot, to be honest. Some people don't even realize they're being abusive, others don't even know they're being abused until after the fact---I'm the latter, sorry to say. 
> 
> I'm okay now, don't worry. There are some scars, but I'm alive, getting better. I found my way out, and supportive family and friends had been a great help---I say help because, in the end, it's really up to the person in that situation how to go about it.
> 
> I guess I'm really just saying all this because I would like anyone who reads this piece, who might have gone through or are still going through the same thing or know someone who is, to know that you have my support; You are not alone; And I wish you would find the strength to fight back, break away, or change what hurts you now. Never give up. ♥
> 
> If you enjoyed, liked, or loved this fic, please let me know by leaving a comment, kudos, or a little gift to me through [here](http://PayPal.Me/ChaJungPiggybank).
> 
> It's not a requirement at all, it's all completely up you. I would just be very very grateful for whatever feedback you would give me.  
> Have a nice day! ♥


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